HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Throughout December and January, county commissioners were besieged with complaints about gravel roads turning to mud.
While road crews have put down gravel as fast as they could, a different brand of complaint has surfaced: The new gravel is too rough.

Fei “George” Yang, who opened Panda Kitchen in Hillsboro four years ago, discovered that opening a restaurant in town these days is much more expensive.
Energy efficiency requirements the city recently adopted are keeping Yang from leasing space he owns to an aspiring restaurant owner.

Amy Grosse-Bayes upset the kill buyer.
She attended horse auctions and began snapping photographs, which did not sit well with the man who bought them in order to send them to the slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.

County commissioners approved $4,050 Monday to upgrade the fire suppression systems for the kitchen stoves at the Peabody and Hillsboro senior centers.
Gayla Ratzlaff, coordinator for the county’s department on aging, said that both stoves as well as the stove at the Marion Senior Center were “red-tagged” in October, indicating that they must be upgraded to meet current fire codes.

If there is one person with fervor for live music that is in a position to help orchestrate a music scene in Marion County, it’s Lindsey Marshall, owner of Coneburg Grill and Pub.
Since she took the helm at what she often calls “The Burg” in 2011, Marshall has taken pains to make her restaurant not only a roadside eatery and tavern, but has gradually ratcheted up its reputation as a county venue and destination location for live music.

In his time on this earth, rural Marion resident Andy Hansen has spelunked the depths of enough man caves to know what sets the good caves apart from the great ones.
Many man caves have killer ping-pong tables, pool tables, and a personal bar. Some caves are decked out in motorcycle or piloting gear, while most caves have big screen TV’s on which to watch favorite teams play the big game of the week.

Twilla Baker of Lincolnville has lived on a 30-acre homestead just west of town since June 2010.
She and her husband, Lonnie, were excited to find their dream place in the country after a lifetime of work in the city. He was a retired federal air traffic controller and she was a retired registered nurse.

About three years ago, a Peabody Hardware and Lumber customer who was having a dead black walnut tree removed from her property approached storeowner Mark Whitney.
“She wondered if I knew of anyone who would want it for a building project,” Whitney said. “She told me where it was so I could go look at it. She had arranged for someone to remove the tree, but thought it was a shame to just haul it to the burn pit.”

When Bryan Grosse remodeled the old “Queenie’s” house at Washington and Walnut Sts. last year, he learned a lesson. The historic house leaned, and Grosse jacked it up seven and a half inches to make it even.
“Sometimes they can be lowered instead,” Grosse said. “I figured that out after the fact.”

Among the sideshows in the bizarre circus that is the Kansas Legislature, I find none more infuriating than a Shawnee legislator’s bill, driven by a book-burning mentality, to criminalize teaching.
Yes, you read that right. Teachers could be bona fide criminals if SB 56 becomes law, subject to fines up to $1,000 and six months in jail.

They haven’t been “Future Farmers of America” for 27 years, not since the official name change to the National FFA Organization.
I always believed “future” was a misnomer — most of the FFA kids I’ve known were already working hard on family farms. They didn’t own the farms, but they owned farming, and they were important to making those farms succeed.

A benefit soup supper for Carol Laue for medical expenses will take place at 5 p.m. March 4 at Our Savior Lutheran Church Parish Hall.
Our Savior Lutheran Church and Marion Christian Church are co-sponsoring the event along with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

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Juniors Zach Wiens and Leighton Wagner of Goessel and senior Claire Heyen of Hillsboro competed Saturday at the state piano festival at Wichita State University.
Wiens and Heyen received 1 ratings, while Wagner received a 2.

Ten students from Hillsboro USD 410 have been selected to perform in state honor groups this week at the Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshops.
Eighth grade students Eva Franz, Jenna Hinerman, Grace Major, and Caleb Rempel along with freshman Josiah Melton were selected by audition to sing with the Kansas Choral Directors Association All-State Treble Chorus under the direction of Meredith Bowen.

The Tabor College Concert Choir will perform at the Kansas Music Educators Association state convention Friday in Wichita, the third time in the past five years the ensemble has been invited to do so.
Kansas college and university choirs compete for places on the conference program by submitting audition tapes. Tabor’s choir is one of four college/university choirs performing at the KMEA convention.

Newly crowned regional champion Jon Carey and three of his Hillsboro wrestling teammates nabbed spots in the state wrestling tournament with their performances at the regional meet in Russell.
Carey scored a fall victory over Paden Griffiths of Herington in the first round of the 132-pound class. Spencer Heise of Osborne, 30-6 on the season, gave Carey all he could handle in the semifinal round, but Carey won by decision 6-5. He defeated David Koralek of Ellsworth 8-3 for the championship. This will be Carey’s third trip to the state meet.

It was another rough night on the hardwoods for the Hillsboro girls, as the Sterling Black Bears roared out of Brown Gymnasium with a 67-27 victory.
Sterling dominated the inside game, scoring 30 points in the paint and winning the rebound battle 40-29.

The Hillsboro boys couldn’t make a first-quarter lead against Sterling stand up Tuesday, falling 58-45 to the Black Bears at Brown Gymnasium.
The Trojans took a 13-11 lead in the first quarter on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, but the Black Bears surged back in the second with 19 points. Sterling led 30-25 at the half.

Down 19 points at half-time, the Bluebirds sprinted for points on fast-breaks to get back into the game with Berean on Tuesday night. Goessel held Berean to only two points in the fourth quarter and eked out a 40-37 win in the last regular season game of this season.
Berean held a 27-8 lead at halftime. In the third period, the race was on. Layup after layup allowed the Bluebirds to chip away at the Warriors lead. Goessel trailed 35-30 at the end of three quarters. Aleena Cook tied the game 35-35 with two free throws, then Makayla King hit two more charities to tie again at 37-37. Eden Hiebert hit a basket for a 39-37 lead with two minutes to play. Goessel got a steal with 1 minute, 13 seconds to play and consumed nearly a minute, before Berean would foul. Cook hit one free throw for a 3 point lead, and Berean’s final trey attempt for the tie wasn’t close.

Berean was deadly from the free-throw line and the Goessel boys lost at home on Tuesday 58-34. Goessel trailed at the first quarter14-7, but when Berean went on a 16-0 run in the second period, the Bluebirds were playing with a 20 point deficit for the rest of the game.
Seniors Kellen Froese and Lucas Hiebert led the team in scoring with 7 and 6 points respectively.